Take Full Advantage from your Health Plan with these Amazing Tips

As 2018 comes to an end, it is time for all of us to celebrate and enjoy the holiday season with our beloved friends and family. Many of you would probably be travelling to exotic places or engaging in similarly exciting activities, and we bet you have spent a lot of time planning out your year-end to ensure it is absolutely fabulous.

However, there is an oft-ignored planning exercise you should engage in at this time of the year, one which most of us unfortunately ignore, and that is the planning for next year’s healthcare insurance coverage plan. While most of us are in the habit of simply renewing our current plans without giving it much thought, doing so might be a terrible idea considering the fact that there may be better plans offering more coverage at a lower cost available in the market.

You don’t need to feel stressed out about it though, because we are here to help you out. After much research and analysis, we have come up with the following tips to ensure you get the best healthcare coverage next year without having to spend more money than you are already spending on a plan. In fact, you may just be able to lower your coverage cost after adhering to the following advice.

There is an oft-ignored planning exercise you should engage in at this time of the year, one which most of us unfortunately ignore, and that is the planning for next year’s healthcare insurance coverage plan

Anticipate Future Health Issues

You don’t know what kind of health issues you would encounter in the next year, however you can get a pretty good idea through screenings. Take advantage of your current plan and seek out screenings under their preventive services program to assess your health at this time to anticipate what kind of health issues you may face in the future.

After making this assessment, you would be better positioned to make an assessment about whether your current healthcare plan fulfils your requirements, or if you need to switch to another one which is better suited to your needs.

Non-Emergency Services Need to Be Delayed

According to statistical figures, around 45% of people in the US are subscribed to plans with a high deductible. If this is the case with you as well, then you need to assess how much of your deductible you have paid in the current year. If you have not nearly or fully paid your deductibles in this year already, then it is best to delay any non-essential medical procedure till 2019.

According to statistical figures, around 45% of people in the US are subscribed to plans with a high deductible

A deductible is the amount which an insurance plan subscriber must pay out of pocket before insurance starts covering the remainder of the costs. Hence, by postponing any major medical issue in the next year, you will raise your chances of taking more advantage from your healthcare plan as you will reach the requirement for deductibles at the very beginning of the year, prompting your insurance provider to cover your costs for the rest of the year.

Make Bookings for Necessary Health Services

If you have already fully paid your required deductibles in this year, then your health insurance provider would likely be covering all of the costs associated with any health services you receive in the remainder of this year. In this case, it is obviously recommended that you take most advantage out of the costs you have paid all year for healthcare, and one of the most effective ways of doing this is to schedule appointments with your healthcare provider for any follow-up checks which may be required.

The best way to do this is simply to call your healthcare provider and ask them whether any such check-ups are required, while letting them know that you have fully paid your deductibles for this year and hence would prefer having them scheduled before the year ends.

If you have already fully paid your required deductibles in this year, then your health insurance provider would likely be covering all of the costs associated with any health services you receive in the remainder of this year

Make Decisions According to your Spending Accounts

This one is pretty straightforward. If you have a Health Savings Account, or HSA for short, then you need to make contributions, enough to cover your health expenditure in 2019, to it before this year ends in order to lower your tax-eligible income for this year.

With a Flexible Spending Account, or FSA, the funds don’t roll over after the year ends like they do with the HSAs. Hence, in this scenario, you must spend any remaining funds before the year ends.